Episode 617: NARC (Patreon)
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Patrons, whassup? Diamond Feit here. Are any of you cops? You know you have to tell me if I ask, right?
No, no, I'm just playing…but if I sound on edge, it's because this week's podcast deals with a sensitive matter: drugs. Drugs may or may not be legal where you live at present, but back in the 1980s, in the United States, they were the hot topic amongst legislators and law enforcement. Whether textual or subtextual, tales of drug abuse and drug busts permeated countless movies and television shows of the era.
Video games were not exempt, but one game in particular handled America's War on Drugs like no other medium could: NARC cast players as ruthless agents of prohibition and threw an entire army of druggies into their crosshairs. Was it satire, or was it sincere? Not even the people behind the game seem to take a stand!
Tune in as Jeremy Parish, David Oxford, and I look back at both the video game NARC and the real-life policies that shaped its hyper-reality. Also, ahead of its 20th anniversary, we remember the failed 2005 reboot that tried to cash in on the arcade game's notoriety.
Art by Nick Wanserski; edits by Greg Leahy.
10:34 - Mike Curb Congregation: "More Than Ever"
20:19 - Kim Wilde: "Kids in America"
28:13 - Grandmaster Flash: "White Lines (Don't Do It)" (2005 Soundtrack)
33:53 - NARC (Arcade): K.R.A.K. Street
44:14 - NARC (Arcade): Junkyard | Thief (1981 Film): Burning Bar
52:29 - NARC (Arcade): The Pipeline
1:02:33 - NARC (Arcade): Swamp
1:12:30 - NARC (Arcade): The Bridge
1:21:14 - NARC (Arcade): NARC Rap
1:27:23 - Jelly Joe feat. Wish Master: "N.A.R.C." (2005 Soundtrack)
1:34:46 - Lynyrd Skynyrd: "That Smell" (2005 Soundtrack)
1:40:58 - The Stranglers: "Golden Brown" (2005 Soundtrack)
Closing - Pixies: "Theme from Narc"